The bullfighters were a big part of the story that unfolded during the second rodeo performance at the 28th annual Williams Lake Indoor Rodeo.
C+ Rodeos bullfighters Earl Call, Ryan Jasper and Cody Call wowed the crowd with their quick and daring moves as they darted beside, and often in front of, the rodeo bulls as riders tested their mettle Saturday afternoon.
After a few close calls and momentary hang ups by other riders, it was cowboy Blaine Manuel, 18, who had the crowd holding their breath and the bullfighters scrambling to save him.
The eight-second horn had just sounded on a great ride when Manuel got hung up and violently flung to the ground by Blacklist, a six-year-old C+ Rodeos bull.
In a split second bull fighter Ryan Jasper distracted the bull to get it away from the cowboy and got hooked himself and thrown head-first into the pipes at lightning speed.
Thankfully the bull left the arena just as quick, leaving the two men on the ground.
Incredibly, Jasper got to his feet quickly and carried on bullfighting for two more rides. Unfortunately Manuel wasn’t so lucky and suffered a serious injury to his leg.
After the rodeo ended Roy Call and his crew loaded the bulls back up into their trailers to bring them home while Manuel was taken to hospital.
“It was just one of those wrecks. The bullfighters did the best they could,” Call said of Manuel’s ride.
“The one thing about the rodeo business, it’s not like a hockey game or a football game where you blow the whistle and they stop. The civility is not there. He has got four legs and a pair of horns and he doesn’t care when the whistle blows and he does what he wants to do.”
Call said being near the chutes is the most dangerous place to be in the arena and that’s where both Manuel and Jasper found themselves.
“Its the real deal. It’s a dangerous, dangerous game. It’s a young guy’s game and you know what, people come to watch that adrenaline and guys like us. I spent a generation breeding these bulls to do what they do and they buck and they hook. They’re rodeo bulls.”
Call said the bullfighters, including his son, get to know how the bulls think and react which helps them keep themselves and the riders safe. He did acknowledge, however, the job of being a bull fighter isn’t for everyone.
“You gotta have some jam to do it.”
Prior to the start of Saturday’s rodeo, Roy and Cody spoke with the Tribune about the day’s match-ups.
The Indoor Rodeo signals the start of the rodeo season, and as such the Calls, their crew and animals will be headed to Alberta next weekend to do it all over again.
See below for photos from Saturday’s bullriding by Angie Mindus